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404nf
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14 Jul 2014, 3:05 am

Near the end of 2012, somehow I started getting good at talking to people(I'd taken it up as a special interest), and for the first time in my life, I made some 'good' friends who I used to talk to every day. Even though I barely had any friends to consider one of them my 'best', one of them did consider me to be their best friend.
Taking up socializing as a special interest only ever helped so much. I was constantly and consistently rude to this one friend and said a lot of hurtful things, even though I didn't intend to. However, this friend, for some reason, let it slide every time.
In early 2013 though, I was severely depressed due to some reason I can't recall, and I cut all my friendships and social relationships. I started ignoring calls and messages, and generally just stopped talking to people. This included that one friend as well. I never gave anyone any reasons for doing so, since I did not have one myself.
After this, I tried talking to this friend via facebook 2 or 3 times over the span of the year. The conversations we had weren't angry or forced, they were fine. However, these 2 or 3 times had gaps of several months in between them.
Regardless, we used to talk for hours on the phone every day before this all happened, and we were very good friends.
Its been more than a year since we've talked on the phone though, and so, yesterday, I rang her. We talked for like 5 minutes, and she said she'd call me later at night.
I never received that call. This happened less than a day ago.
I am no expert, but she didn't sound angry or frustrated that I'd called her. I asked her for her number on facebook first, and she gave it to me.
I do not know if she wants our friendship to start again though. Obviously if I asked her she wouldn't say no. I do not want to force myself onto anybody though. What should I do now? And is her not calling back a sign of 'I don't give a crap about you anymore'?



gigstalksguy
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14 Jul 2014, 3:58 am

No I would not say the fact she didn't call you back means 'I don't give a crap about you anymore'? All it means is that calling you back was not a massive priority. Especially if she sounded happy to speak to you.

She may have had another call, or got caught up in something else, or just got tired.

This sort of thing happens all the time. I've had people say they will call be and not do so, and I must admit I have done the same, when the person in question is not a priority to me.

I would suggest interacting on Facebook a bit in the meantime, commenting and liking her statuses etc, just to keep on her radar. If you take a look at her Facebook profile it may also gives some clues as to how available she is for friendship. Does she have a big number of 'friends,' lots of photos, lots of comments/tag on her timeline? If so it probably means she has a busy social life in which case she's probably not going to be invested that much in one particular friend or groups of friends even. If this is the case, you may have to persist a bit longer to get to meet up with her, yet at the same time she may be able to introduce you to her other friends easily.

Perhaps send a message just to ask when it is convenient to call, or her to call you (best to assume she does want to speak to you I'd say). If she doesn't get back on this, do a bit of FB chat, and try to explain your situation and why you cut off from your friends. I wouldn't go for the sob story but if you mention the depression she will likely be very understanding, and really encouraged that you want to resurrect your friendship! If she can see how much you valued her friendship, she's more likely to take the time out to call and meet with you again.

So don't be discouraged by the lack of her calling back!


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404nf
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14 Jul 2014, 5:07 am

gigstalksguy wrote:
No I would not say the fact she didn't call you back means 'I don't give a crap about you anymore'? All it means is that calling you back was not a massive priority. Especially if she sounded happy to speak to you.

She may have had another call, or got caught up in something else, or just got tired.

This sort of thing happens all the time. I've had people say they will call be and not do so, and I must admit I have done the same, when the person in question is not a priority to me.

I would suggest interacting on Facebook a bit in the meantime, commenting and liking her statuses etc, just to keep on her radar. If you take a look at her Facebook profile it may also gives some clues as to how available she is for friendship. Does she have a big number of 'friends,' lots of photos, lots of comments/tag on her timeline? If so it probably means she has a busy social life in which case she's probably not going to be invested that much in one particular friend or groups of friends even. If this is the case, you may have to persist a bit longer to get to meet up with her, yet at the same time she may be able to introduce you to her other friends easily.

Perhaps send a message just to ask when it is convenient to call, or her to call you (best to assume she does want to speak to you I'd say). If she doesn't get back on this, do a bit of FB chat, and try to explain your situation and why you cut off from your friends. I wouldn't go for the sob story but if you mention the depression she will likely be very understanding, and really encouraged that you want to resurrect your friendship! If she can see how much you valued her friendship, she's more likely to take the time out to call and meet with you again.

So don't be discouraged by the lack of her calling back!


Yeah, that is what always happens with me. Never a priority for anyone.

Well, even if she couldn't call when she said she would, she could have called me after that, right? At least 20 hours have passed from when she said she would call me, and its not like taking 2 minutes out of 20 hours to give a courtesy call saying that she's caught up in something and will call when she can is very difficult.

Well, I always make it a point to call whomever I said I would at the time I'd said I would, and if, for some reason, I couldn't, I believe I owe them an explanation and explain it to them, even if the person was at the bottom of my priority list(yes, I have one).

I do not use Facebook all that much, and commenting on/liking peoples' statuses is just not my thing. I've never done it before, so doing it now will seem out of the ordinary and, coming from me, creepy even. She does have a lot of friends and a lot of activity on her timeline. I'd assume she has a busy social life. My intention is not to get to meet with her, I only want to talk.

That was what I did the first time around, and she asked me to call any time the next day(I did ask at 11 PM in the night). I did, and we barely talked for 5 minutes when she said she'll call me later that day. I've already explained that to her. I did not mention the depression or anything like that, as I am not comfortable opening up myself to anyone.

Well, I am going to wait and see if she calls me. I guess that would be the best indicator of how interested she really is. If she doesn't call me, then I am probably not going to be a priority when she already has so many non-Aspie friends who will always keep telling her she looks good and all that flattery they do with girls.



Waterfalls
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14 Jul 2014, 5:38 am

404nf wrote:
I was constantly and consistently rude to this one friend and said a lot of hurtful things, even though I didn't intend to. However, this friend, for some reason, let it slide every time.
In early 2013 though, I was severely depressed due to some reason I can't recall, and I cut all my friendships and social relationships. I started ignoring calls and messages, and generally just stopped talking to people. This included that one friend as well. I never gave anyone any reasons for doing so, since I did not have one myself.

I am much better at understanding people than talking to them. When I read this, I thought that she is a person and just like you, she has feelings, too! If you did want the friendship back, I'm not good at making friends or talking to people, and maybe this is why, but I have to ask, if you were her friend, don't you want her to protect herself from someone who disappeared her with no explanation (from her point of view) like she was toxic waste? And now you seem angry and to be feeling sorry for yourself after she didn't call back once? Maybe being more self centered is the secret I am missing as to how to make friends, but for you here I think you should try to look at what happened from her point of view. And if you aren't interested in being friends with her again, that's fine.



Girlwithaspergers
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14 Jul 2014, 10:29 am

I'm having this issue with email :(


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404nf
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14 Jul 2014, 12:07 pm

Waterfalls wrote:
404nf wrote:
I was constantly and consistently rude to this one friend and said a lot of hurtful things, even though I didn't intend to. However, this friend, for some reason, let it slide every time.
In early 2013 though, I was severely depressed due to some reason I can't recall, and I cut all my friendships and social relationships. I started ignoring calls and messages, and generally just stopped talking to people. This included that one friend as well. I never gave anyone any reasons for doing so, since I did not have one myself.

I am much better at understanding people than talking to them. When I read this, I thought that she is a person and just like you, she has feelings, too! If you did want the friendship back, I'm not good at making friends or talking to people, and maybe this is why, but I have to ask, if you were her friend, don't you want her to protect herself from someone who disappeared her with no explanation (from her point of view) like she was toxic waste? And now you seem angry and to be feeling sorry for yourself after she didn't call back once? Maybe being more self centered is the secret I am missing as to how to make friends, but for you here I think you should try to look at what happened from her point of view. And if you aren't interested in being friends with her again, that's fine.


Well, maybe she is indeed better off without me. In my scenario, she wasn't the only one I disappeared from, and she was fully aware of that fact. I stopped using all means of socialization, both online and offline. I was as good as dead. I cannot think from someone elses point of view, no matter how hard I try, it just doesn't come to me. I very much want to be friends, but if it isn't the same for her, I won't waste her time. Maybe being an Aspie means I do not deserve friends, but its not my mistake I find it so hard to maintain friendships.



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14 Jul 2014, 12:19 pm

It's hard for all of us, but that doesn't make us undeserving. Best of luck, whatever happens. :)



Waterfalls
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14 Jul 2014, 2:33 pm

Don't make it about what you deserve. My point is if waiting 20 hours felt long, waiting weeks with no response is longer and would likely be upsetting. People might even think you don't want to be around them. I suppose I'm a bit jealous as I try really hard to be considerate, and am never able to make friends the way you describe. Wish I could. Maybe others sense my intensity and pull away, maybe they sense you not caring much and are drawn to you.

Anyway, yes. Best of luck to you.



namaste
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18 Jul 2014, 4:41 am

tats the reason i avoid calling people


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